Motherwell travel to face St Johnstone on Saturday for game 33 of the league campaign. The sides will have to cope with the disappointment of failing to reach the top half of the table and engage in the contest to be best of the rest.
Both teams had their post-split verdicts confirmed when they lost respective games to Aberdeen. St Johnstone suffered a 4-1 loss at Pittodrie last Saturday and Tuesday’s 2-0 home defeat ended Motherwell’s slim chance of finishing above the cut line. Our opponents had finished the previous six seasons in the upper half.
Tommy Wright echoed Stephen Robinson’s reference to the cost of this season’s injuries. Blair Alston is the latest casualty and he joins McMillan, Easton and Scougall on the sidelines.
St Johnston were comfortable winners when the teams last met in Perth in August. Our bogey referee Craig Thomson had reduced us to 8 players before the final whistle. Home advantage restored balance the score at Fir Park when Campbell and Main delivered a 2-0 win in February.
Our poor showing in midweek was a big contrast to the recent powerful perfomances against Celtic and Rangers. The manager will be looking for a return to a more typical display at McDiarmid. Players will be aware of the need to impress ahead of next week’s Scottish Cup semi-final.
'Well fans in the sunshine
Campbell was substituted at half-time on Tuesday as a precaution but his replacement, Bigirimana, showed that a passing game is a viable alternative to the more direct style that has become our norm.
Ciftci has not featured for a few weeks and we await news of his progress. Dunne was missed on Tuesday and his omission forced a switch to a back four rather than our normal three. His return would be welcome but if there is any doubt he should be given an extra week to ensure fitness for Hampden.
The table demonstrates that there is little to split the teams and it would be no surprise if the result reflects this equality with a 1-1 draw.